The present invention relates generally to toy wheeled vehicles, and more particularly to a toy vehicle comprising multiple pivoting linkages which may be alternatively collapsed around or extended from a portion of the vehicle, the total length of the vehicle being thereby variable.
Toy wheeled vehicles are well-known. One class of known toy vehicles includes chassis or chassis/body combinations that are or have linkages permitting parts of the chassis or chassis/body combination to flex and allow the vehicle to change its configuration. The prior art, for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,597,744; 4,626,223 and 4,813,906, discloses vehicles comprised of multiple links capable of pivoting with respect to one another. U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,779 discloses a motorized running toy wherein multiple linkages forming a flexible tail-like structure may be collapsed about a drum-like main portion of the toy having a central axis or extended axially from the drum-like portion of the toy having the central axis.
A toy vehicle which provides multiple operative configurations not previously provided combined with highly dynamic performance should provide more engaging play activity than does a toy vehicle which has a fixed operative configuration or more slowly paced performance.